Hempstead Chamber of Commerce

25th Annual Watermelon Festival

Hempstead Watermelon Festival Queen’s Court Rules and Application

I. Eligibility:

a. Contestants must be an unmarried female without children

b. Contestants must be a Hempstead resident

c. The following requirements are for the upcoming school year (2014-2015)

d. Queen candidates must be entering grades 9th-12th.

e. Princess candidates must be entering grades 6th-8th.

f. Duchess candidates must be entering grades 3rd-5th

g. Little Miss candidates must be entering Kindegarten-2nd.

h. All contestants must prove that they have a “C” or better average for the preceding school semester.

i. Past Queens are not eligible to participate. Past Princess, Duchess and Little Miss are allowed to participate when they reach the next age level.

j. All contestants must provide current photo with your application.

II. Contestant Responsibility:

a. The contestant must sell tickets (details in section IV of these rules).

b. The contestants must ride in the Watermelon Festival Parade, attend the Queen’s Luncheon, the rehearsal and be at opening ceremonies.

c. Winners must be available for the next year’s festival to present sashes and crowns to the Queen and her court. Each winner is expected to where her crown and sash at all times during the festival.

d. The new court is required to attend and assist at the Watermelon auction, awards ceremony and bbq cook-off winners. They must be in full view of the public throughout the entire day. The Queen will attend the dance on Saturday night to draw the raffle prize winners during the dance intermission.

e. The contestants are to wear sun dresses. No formals or evening gowns will be allowed. Formals are reserved for the current Queens court. The dresses must be approved on the day of the luncheon. Any contestant that does not comply with this rule will not be judged.

f. Each contestant must have an escort for the coronation ceremony. The escorts are to wear a collared shirt and cleaned pressed jeans or pants. Please no plaid or stripes (it tends to draw attention from the contestants). The name of the escort is to be submitted with the initial application.

III. Court’s Responsibilities:

a. The Queen and her court will reign from the day they are crowned till the crowning of their predecessors the following year.

b. All contestants must enter the Watermelon Festival Parade with either a decorated float, truck, car, tractor etc… of their choice. All winners will ride on the Queen’s float at the next Watermelon Festival and will be required to represent the Hempstead Chamber of Commerce in numerous parades throughout the year.

c. The new court must remain unmarried without children and a full time student during their reign. Failure to fulfill all eligibility requirements will result in the relinquishment of the title and scholarship will go to the first runner- up in their category.

d. The Queen and her court must purchase a formal dress immediately following her July crowning. The Queens Court chairperson will be provided money from the chamber to purchase all formals.

e. The Queen and her court must be available and agree to represent the Watermelon Festival and the Hempstead Chamber of Commerce in various functions during their reign. If the Queen fails to cooperate with the committee in any of the functions, she’ll be penalized $500.00 of her scholarship. In the event the Queen is unavailable to fulfill two or more scheduled events, the first runner-up will step in and carry out her duties. If anyone from the court misses more than two scheduled appearances they will be asked to step down and the first runner-up will step in and resume her duties.

f. The Queen and her court must carry out their community service project. This project must be approved by the committee.

IV. Ticket Sales:

a. Each contestant will be issued 300 tickets upon receipt of their completed application. The contestant may pick up additional tickets from The Hotline Press. Monday – Thursday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. No tickets will be given after these hours or on weekends.

b. All proceeds from tickets sales and ticket stubs must be turned into the Hotline Press between above mentioned hours. No additional tickets will be given out until all tickets in your possession have been sold and turned in.

c. Each contestant will be responsible for turning in the total amount due from the sales of tickets or the amount collected from a portion of tickets sold along with the remaining tickets. Remaining tickets that were not sold are to be turned into The Hotline Press (the deadline for selling tickets and turning in remaining tickets is July 12, 2014). In the event that the tickets are lost or stolen, it is the responsibility of the parent to pay for them.

d. Once a contestant has turned in her initial 300 tickets she will be considered eligible to run for the court.

V. Court Selection Process:

a. Each contestant will be judged for appearance, poise and personality before a panel of judges. Please remember this is not a beauty pageant. The judges will consider your overall application as well as your personal interview. Ticket sales, sponsorships and judging scores will determine the winners. Keep in mind that we are in a social media age. Your twitter, facebook, Instagram, vine, ect… will be looked at, we are looking for young ladies to represent Hempstead in a respectful manner.

VI. Awards:

a. Top Ticket Seller will receive an IPAD

b. The Queen will be presented a $1500.00 scholarship certificate given by the Hempstead Chamber of Commerce President (up to $750.00 per semester) at the following years Watermelon Festival.

c. Prizes for Princess, Duchess and Little Miss will be determined by Prizes will be determined by amount of sponsorship money and ticket sales from each contestant. Prizes may consist of I pod touch, I pod, gift cards etc…

d. All winners will receive a crown, sash, flowers and gifts.

VII. Raffle Prizes:

a. 1st Place - TBD

b. 2nd Place - $500.00 cash

c. 3rd Place - $250.00 cash

d. The drawing will take place on Saturday night at the festival dance intermission, where the Queen will draw the winners.

VIII. Important Dates:

a. Monday, May 5th – Mandatory - Community Information Meeting. Hempstead Rec Center 6:00 p.m. Start selling tickets.

b. Monday, June 2nd - Application and first 300 tickets are due. Need to have applications to the Hotline Press by 5:00 p.m.

c. Saturday, July 12th - Queens Luncheon at 11:00 a.m. at the Garden Café in Hempstead. Final tickets sales are due.

e. Friday, July 18th - Rehearsal at the Gazebo at 6:00 p.m.

f. Saturday, July 19th - Watermelon Festival

If you have any questions please contact Katy Collette at 281-723-0303 or .